Not. Hell, Phil isn't even banned over here. He's just a coward who can't "objectively" defend his arguments when he can't "fight unfairly".

The reason for any hostiliity here is that there's no point to having discussion that's so hampered by false decorum that it's completely pointless and turns every thread into an exchange between members of a single-minded support group.

If Phil posted here and his posts were as frikkin' longw-winded as his articles (and equally self-indulgent), he should be banned for that. :)

If Phil posted here and his posts were as frikkin' longw-winded as his articles (and equally self-indulgent), he should be banned for that. :)

-daGorilla

phil doesn't have the testicles to debate here despite the fantasies and lies he tells himself ->

"I've said before that I've been debating and arguing online since the old UseNet days. I'm very, very good at it. I was never on the debate team in school, but I think I should have been; I think quickly, type almost as fast, I'm good with rhetorical tools, I recognize rhetorical ploys, I'm logical and methodical, I can be humorous when need be, and I enjoy arguing with people. I know that sounds arrogant, but it's also true, so I can't apologize for it or diminish it. I don't try to respond to my critics; I demolish them. I do so easily because they make it easy. Take this incredibly lengthy piece to which I am responding. It's almost completely childish personal attacks (and what little substance it contains we'll address presently). That's not hard at all to ridicule, to refute, and to dismiss – for all you have to do is explain the truth and throw in some counter-insults." phil elmore in 'a woman scorned'

phil's not going to come to a place where he can't control the discussion or find a sympathetic audience. He's a coward.

Kungfoolss, Scourge of the theory-based stylists, Most Feared man at Bullshido.com, and the Preeminent Force in the martial arts political arena

Everything I need to know about Phil is summed up in the name of his forum. Presumeably he chose Pax Baculum because it means (I think) "Peace of the Stick" in Latin (obviously an allusion to "Talk softly and carry a big stick").

Unfortunately for Phil baculum is used today to refer to the bone found in the penis of most mammals. Phil's forum title thus also translates as the "Peace of the penis bone".

What's with all the hate?

What's with all the hate? I accidentally stumbled upon this feud and thought I'll chime in even though I'm fairly new... I think the Martialist did make some decent points about self defense, although I am still quite skeptical as to whether he should be teaching martial arts to others.

1) Big Stick

Nothing wrong with carrying a big stick. If anything, it should be suggested if you are really looking to protect yourself on the street. Part of my own training includes Krav Maga, where we often do knife aggression/defense scenarios. The one take-away lesson I got from the drill was that if an opponent comes after you with a knife/stick with full power and speed and intend to kill, you are definitely going to get hurt, even if the opponent is extremely untrained.

Therefore, even though most of my training is with empty-hand combat, I would still rather carry some sort of weapon if I walk through a seedier part of town (in my case I just have one of those key-chain maces and an escrima stick in my bag).

2) Lethal strikes

Let's face it. There are certain things you can't do while sparring in sport-fighting/MMA/UFC. As mentioned previously, I train in Krav Maga, and one of the more important moves that is trained in class (one of instructors is an IDF veteran) is the groin kick. All men should know that such a kick would HURT. But we can't do it in regular sports fighting because we still want to be able to bear children at some point. But in a serious self defense situation, I would definitely be kicking my assailant in the nuts, honor be damned.

I do get that because these techniques are hard to practice in sparring, their effectiveness may be somewhat limited due to not having the opportunity to use them in an aggressive environment. For our training in Krav, we put on 2 layers of groin cup and kick there at around 30% power to compensate for this limitation.

3) Sports fighting vs Real fighting

This is the point I hesitate the most to bring up because the opinion of this site seems to lean heavily towards sports fighting. There are many situations where sports fighting helps with improving one's self defense, but there are also many situations where one's MMA skills may not save the day.

For example: If you get into a brawl in a crowded bar, the chairs, tables and stuff makes manouvering much more limited. There's a huge number of weapons available (beer pints, bottles, chairs), and you might very well be abit intoxicated. If someone grabs a smashed beer bottle and starts trying to stab you with it, I highly doubt any MT, BJJ, MMA, or even my own Krav practice will get me out of the scrap unscathed.

Furthermore, sports fighting does limit the fighting one-on-one. As far as I know, most real self defense scenarios aren't that honorable. One could be just as likely to be facing multiple opponents. When we train with multiple opponents in Krav, the general pattern is to just circle the room, hopefully land a quick jab here or there to push one person back, or maybe grab one person and use him/her as a human shield. There is never any thought of victory, just survival until you can escape or help arrives.

That ultimately brings me to my final point about sports fighting vs real fighting. Real fighting is and should be the last option in an aggressive environment. If one can de-escalate the situation by buying the angry person a pint, or just saying a quick sorry, why not?

Those 3 were just some of the points that the Martialist made (and I agree with) regarding the ideology on this site vs his ideology.

However, I do agree with most people on this site about his credentials. It's fine if he gives out really general advice like an average Joe, but to start his own style of martial arts and to teach others? not quite sure about that... My Krav gym doesn't let anyone teach without some degree of Law Enforcement/Army/Fighting experience and thus its hard for me to accept that a doughy white guy would be skilled enough, experienced enough, and strong enough to teach others.

TL;DR: I think the Martialist makes some good theoretical points, but though he can talk the talk, not sure if he can actually walk the walk